“This is a place that builds character,” says Chris Stapleton about his hometown of Paintsville, Kentucky. The ACM Male Vocalist of the Year recently appeared in a Ram Trucks commercial entitled “Built Here,” which featured Stapleton returning to his hometown. “Strength lives here. Kindness lives here… This is home, this is where I come from,” says Stapleton in the commercial.

The commercial shows Stapleton driving around town in his truck, stopping at a local coffee shop and then visiting his former high school. During this visit Chris not only performed two free concerts, but also teamed up with Ram Nation – a network of Ram truck owners dedicated to giving back to communities – and ACM Lifting Lives to give back to Johnson Central High School. The humble hometown hero built an outdoor stage and donated $57,000 in musical instruments to the school’s music department. The students, many of whom had been using broken instruments, were incredibly grateful for the country star’s generous gift.

“When I saw the faces of the kids with the instruments you could tell how much they genuinely appreciated it, but they were also in shock,” StapletontoldPeople. “I think they were not expecting me to walk in.”

Watch the touching commercial below.

The love that the state of Kentucky has for the chart-topping tunesmith is undeniable. It is great to see a celebrity like Chris be able to greet adoring fans and community members of the town that has so clearly made the artist who he is today.

“To be here in the hometown, getting to help the school out and the kids out and the community out, that was the most obvious thing for me to do,” says Stapleton.